Canary
by chelsia
Summary: Unfortunately for Deidara, it's his birthday. But a thought hits him: what has Sasori bothered to get him, if anything? [SasoDei]


A-hem. Sorry, I had to resubmit this document because there were some things I didn't like on it before. So, sorry for the trouble.. x-x;

**Disclaimer: I don't own anyone in this story... oh joy.**

Some notes you might want to know x3:

_Baka Idiot  
Gomen nasai Sorry  
Hai Yes  
Arigatou Thanks  
Kochira koso the pleasure is mine_

* * *

Birthdays never went well with Deidara. Those dreaded days reminded him of his cruel past (which we don't know of), and made him fancy he was never born. Well, he can't really say that he wished he was never born after he met Sasori-danna. The human puppet was an interesting piece of art that made him gain his trademark grin again, and Deidara was thankful of Sasori-danna for inadvertently doing so.

His thoughts of the redhead puppet soon vanished when he snapped back into reality. They were hunting him down, all of the Akatsuki. Birthdays were seen as 'special'; another day to remind you, 'Hey! You're still alive after how long? Good for you!' The clay artist was currently balled up in a cabinet located in the Akatsuki's kitchen, and before you ask, yes, they had a kitchen. Where else did they eat their breakfast? Anyways, back to Deidara.

He silently thanked himself for being so slender, or else they would've found him sooner. There weren't many good places to hide in their lair, due to the vast rooms used for various purposes. Hiding in his own room wouldn't be much help, since it would be the first place they'd look... the blonde stiffened, as he heard two voices begin bickering once they entered the kitchen. Odd. It only sounded like one person walked in --- hold on! It must be Zetsu! Deidara was hopeful for a moment that Zetsu would find him and eat him, and then he wouldn't have to deal with this rotten birthday stuff anymore.

**"I don't think he'd be here. If he was, where could he be hiding? Not the fridge or the cabinets."** The white side of Zetsu argued, while the black side had a different opinion.

_"We might as well check. Everyone wanted to make it up to Deidara for bringing some 'fun' into the Akatsuki, and adding some warmth to us. We are a criminal family, after all."_ Finally, the two sides agreed to search the room anyways for the ex-Iwa nin, and first checked the fridge. No Deidara. Then they started on the cabinets...

_Oh snap son. They're gonna find me... not good!_ Those were Deidara's last thoughts as the door to his hiding place was thrown opened, and his blue eye and metal scope faced daunting yellow eyes. The blonde gulped at the Venus flytrap man, sweat forming along his forehead for the uncomfortable moment. Then Zetsu pulled Deidara out of the cabinet without say-so from the blonde, locking the poor artist in a headlock.

"_You're coming with me,"_ the black side proclaimed, positive said blonde wouldn't dare escape. The white side chimed in.

"**We've got gifts for you, Deidara-chan!"** It snickered, a ragging grin playing Zetsu's lips. Deidara disliked when his 'family' called him 'Deidara-chan' – a criminal isn't supposed to be cute, for the love of Kami!

A few minutes later, and the clay artist was dragged off into the main room, where the other members of their organization awaited. It was unlike any birthday Deidara had celebrated; the classic bright streamers had now changed to dark colors, such as red and black. There was a cherry oak counter in front of all the piled gifts from the 'family', bearing a vanilla cake that read in violet frosting, "Happy Birthday, we guess. -Akatsuki" Deidara smirked to himself. _Thanks for everything, guys. _

"Oh hey, Dei-chan, it's nice to _finally_ see you!" Hidan said when he spotted the ex-Iwa ninja, patting the blonde on the back once Zetsu let go of him. Soon after, Kakuzu appeared next to Hidan, glaring at the Jashin–follower. He whispered something into Hidan's ear, sounding something to Deidara like 'don't piss him off'. Hidan scowled at his partner, and then faced the clay artist once more, flashing a toothy grin. "C'mon, the rest of us are excited to see you!" Deidara groaned as the Scythe-Wielder dragged him off towards the table, where the remaining members of the Akatsuki conversed with one another, awaiting the 'Birthday Boy'.

A half hour went by, with cheery (as close as they could get to it, anyway) greetings from the others, and trying to hide himself from the watchful criminals. Off course, it was impossible to be alone, since Kisame was tagging along with him after Itachi engaged in a discussion with Sasori.

"I tell you, they're plotting something! Itachi-san usually isn't this wary about who listens to his conversations. The Weasel told me to go keep you b---" Kisame abruptly stopped, then changed the subject. "So, what do you think your partner got for you? I can't really see us going out to purchase presents for such a trivial day, especially the Puppet, Weasel, and Cheapskate over there!" The tall man smirked, rolling his eyes when mentioning Kakuzu. The blonde was somewhat thankful that someone else agreed it was an insignificant day.

"Hai. Maybe Hidan forced him to get something for little ol' me, hmm?" Deidara chuckled faintly, and Kisame felt relieved that the blonde wasn't all that annoyed. But after examining the Demon Fish's previous words, the clay artist felt as though someone punched him in the gut. He hadn't really thought Sasori-danna would get him anything, let alone show up at the little gathering. But so far, the human puppet had emerged from Hiruko and come. Was he forced to drag his pretty little ass down here? If so, when has Akasuna no Sasori agreed to such idiotic demands?

"My head hurts, hmm," Deidara whined, rubbing his temple at the sudden headache. Who cares about Sasori-danna? Surely not Deidara... ouch! Damn, there was that jab in the gut again! The blonde swore he'd die before his next birthday – he couldn't put up with this rubbish! A cold voice severed through his thoughts, awakening the ex-Iwa nin from the commotion inside his mind. The owner of the voice noticed that Deidara hadn't heard what it had just said, so it coolly repeated itself.

"What are you doing?" Deidara froze once he figured out who the tone belonged to, which was none other than Sasori. The blonde looked up at – wait, wasn't he _taller_ than his Danna? The clay artist noted his current position, which was kneeling on the floor, grasping his head frantically. The rest of the organization was staring at him, slightly concerned. Well, shit; so much for going unnoticed. He immediately jumped up, plastering on his trademark grin that could deceive almost anybody, except for two people; Sir Leader, and the human puppet next to him.

"I'm fine, just thinking too much, hmm. Nothing big," Deidara waved it off, giving some reassurance to the rest of the staring Akatsuki, who turned back to their previous tasks. Kisame had gone back to Itachi, glancing warily at the blonde from time to time. Now it was just the two artists.

"Hnn... we're going to give you your presents soon, and this bothersome day will be over," The redhead muttered, sighing slightly. Deidara nodded, his grin reduced to a weak smile. As soon as Sasori was about to rejoin the group, Deidara's curiosity got the best of him.

"If it's so tedious, why'd you come, Sasori-danna? Hmm?" The blonde inquired, determined to know. But of course, Deidara couldn't take things seriously, and he added, "Do you really like me that much, hmm?"

Sasori was grateful that his back was turned to the clay bomber, because his cheeks were faintly tinted pink. "I came for the cake, not you, baka." He retorted, and it came out more or less fiercely then he wanted. Oooh, Sasori: 1 point, Deidara: 0.The blonde grinned.

"At least you still have some humor left, hmm," Deidara chirped, studying his hand mouths randomly.

"I wasn't joking," The redhead said blandly, now facing his partner. The clay artist stopped scrutinizing his hand mouths and looked up. He still had that maniac grin on. The boy shrugged, skipped off, waving farewell to Sasori. The human puppet sighed again, rubbing the back of his neck, and muttered, "He really is an idiot... did I upset him? Of course not; he probably wants that cake now."

The redhead snapped out of his thoughts as Sir Leader amplified his voice, allowing it to echo across the main room. "We'll now begin with Dei-chan's party." Of course, Deidara went berserk and had an insane thought to blow Sir Leader up for announcing his wretched moniker in public (For Kami's sake, how many people DIDN'T know it?). This entire hubbub allowed a grin to creep upon the redhead's lips, before he joined the crowd.

Once they finished serving the cake (of which Deidara refused to eat, causing Hidan and Kisame to force it down his throat), they started giving their presents to the blonde. Sir Leader gave Deidara a huge pack of clay, and Deidara thanked him for such a thoughtful (though obvious) gift. Zetsu gave the ex-Iwa ninja a Venus flytrap (oh joy), which made Deidara scream as it got hold of its hand. It took about 15 minutes to calm the clay bomber down, before he resorted to blowing the damned thing up. Hidan gave Deidara a "Religion for Dummies" book... well; the artist had no comment on that one – wait, did the Jashin-follower think he was... dumb?

Hidan forced Kakuzu to buy a present, so he got the blonde a gumball. Unnamed Member wasn't there, so they couldn't celebrate Deidara's party, but they sent their greetings. Itachi bought Deidara eyeliner, while Kisame gave him a collection of shark teeth.

"It'll make a great necklace, Deidara-san!" The man had cheerily stated, flashing a hearty grin. Deidara made a note that there were a few of Kisame's teeth missing...

Finally, Sasori's turn came. The majority of the Akatsuki, including Deidara, just thought he'd blow the clay artist off and not give him a present. Oh, but were they taken aback. The human puppet coolly walked up to the blonde, proffering his partner an oval-shaped present. Said redhead was boring his gaze at his feet, trying to ignore the fact that his cheeks were slightly flushed. Deidara was indeed shocked, but appreciatively took the gift from his Danna.

"Be careful, Deidara," Sasori warned. "It's... fragile."

The clay artist nodded, handling the package with much more heed. Deidara's fingers felt over the wrapping, and it had an awkward pattern... sort of like cage bars, the way they dipped down, and then rose back up. The ex-Iwa ninja blinked when some sort of stifled sound came from the gift. He immediately looked at the redhead, who merely shrugged, a sly grin slinking onto his features.

Deidara cautiously opened the present, and an audible gasp came from both himself and the rest of the Akatsuki, once it was visible. Before the clay bomber was a ball of yellow; well, in fact, it was a petite bird that was sound asleep. It had woken up from the entire racket, and was cocking its head in Deidara's way, an expression that seemed to interpret, _'You're my owner? Great! Now, give me some food!'_ The tiny puffball was a canary, and the cutest one Deidara had seen. He almost burst into tears at its adorable looks. He had set the cage down, poking his finger through the bars; the bird responded by nipping lightly at the clay artist's fingertips. Soon, some of the organization (that being Kisame, Itachi, Zetsu, and Hidan) wandered up to the cage, doing the same thing as Deidara, while the others went back to their rooms. The canary was enjoying the attention, twittering gleefully in a melodious song, and ruffling its handsome feathers.

Deidara stood up, glancing around to thank his Danna for the wonderful gift, but the human puppet had disappeared. The blonde then took off, looking for the redhead. The first place to check was Sasori's room, and so he did.

"Sasori-danna, hmm! Oi!" Deidara called, glancing about frantically with his one eye, while his scope scanned the distance. No puppet. The clay bomber turned a corner, and abruptly collided into someone. But... _who_?

Deidara closed his eye and rubbed his head, while apologizing to the mysterious figure. "Ah, gomen nasai, hmm!" He slowly cracked an eye open, only to see an annoyed Sasori. "Sasori-danna!" The blonde instantly got up and pulled his partner to a standing position, before embracing the human puppet.

Sasori was puzzled as to what just happened, but when it slowly came to him, a blush spread across his face. "Deidara..." He threatened, his voice low, but for some reason he really didn't want the blonde to let go. It made the puppeteer feel all warm inside... well, as warm as a puppet could get.

The same touch of pink was flushed over Deidara, too, as he pulled back, rubbing his neck. "I want to thank you for the wonderful present, hmm! You don't know how glad I am! I haven't felt this way in years, hmm!" The blonde squealed, pulling his Danna in for another hug, which the redhead tried to resist by muttering, 'Ew, get off me.' "Hmm, you made it feel as if someone cares about me..." The clay artist's voice faded, and Sasori sighed. The redhead got on tiptoes to ruffle the blonde's hair, frowning slightly.

"Why wouldn't I care about you, Deidara?" Sasori started, but instantly covered his mouth with his hands. _Hey, wrong words to say, genius! Now he'll get all lovey-dovey on you,_ his conscious barked, while the puppet tried to hide his blush. The blonde stared at him, confused. "Forget what I just said, and be happy with your present, brat!" Sasori became cold again. He didn't need someone coming too close to him anymore. The puppet turned his back to the boy, grunted slightly, listening for retreating footsteps or sobs. Nothing... wait! He heard light footsteps, but they sounded like they were going towards him! Sasori spun around, ready to tell his partner off, when the blonde caught his chin with his fingertips.

"Arigatou, Sasori-danna," Deidara whispered to the redhead, before leaning in and gently kissing the puppet's cold cheek. The clay artist beamed, and then bounded off, eager to see his canary again.

The puppet was now left alone, in the middle of a dim hall. He grazed his fingertips over the spot where the blonde's soft lips had been. "Kochira koso," the redhead murmured to the shadows, a genuine smile painted on his face.

* * *

Back at the party, Kisame watched as Deidara gleefully skipped back to his canary. The fish man sighed, and turned to the raven-haired Uchiha. "You were planning this all along, weren't you?"

Itachi snickered. "Whatever do you mean? Sasori told me about his present to Deidara, and I merely stated that'd he'd be in for a surprise once Dei got a hold of it. Looks like I was right." The Uchiha prodigy just sipped the cup of green tea he was holding, pleased with his prediction. Kisame muttered something under his breathe about canaries.

_ "Damn birds. I guess they really do sing a song of love."_

* * *

**Ending notes: Rawr. I know, canaries really don't sing the song of love, but it's a soppy ending, I guess. Don't kill me?! ;;**

**Reviews would be nice? Always like to hear ways to improve my sucky writing. **


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